Avaliação in vitro e in silico de um complexo de cobre com potencial anticâncer: de docking molecular à morte celular programada

Abstract

Cancer, one of the most feared and evident diseases of the century. It is already considered one of the main public health problems, impacting people all over the world with a high number of deaths. Given this situation, it is necessary to constantly search for therapeutic alternatives that are capable of reducing these numbers, increasing the quality of life of people affected by this disease. The most commonly used treatment is chemotherapy, and after the success of the medication cisplatin and its derivatives, metal-based molecules have been studied in order to find a possible new medication with fewer side effects, safer and more effective against neoplasms. The objective of this work was to investigate the possible cytotoxic activity in human cells of the copper complex [Cu(Shyd)(phen)(acn)(ClO4)](ClO4), unraveling its mechanism of action through in vitro tests of cytotoxicity, apoptosis and necrosis, analysis of the production of reactive oxygen species and analysis through the cell cycle. And also the in silico test of molecular docking. The results obtained revealed that the copper-based metallocomplex is very promising, since it showed cytotoxicity against tumor cells, was able to induce late apoptosis, induced the production of reactive oxygen species and provided a decrease in cell growth and cell trapping in the G0-G1 phases of the cell cycle. Given the promising results and the difficulty in finding new molecules with cytotoxic activity, the compound [Cu(Shyd)(phen)(acn)(ClO4)](ClO4) deserves continued studies to adjust its selectivity towards tumor cells, consequently reducing possible side effects, and potentially being safer and more effective.